I see sony introducing one camera after the other, but the fact remains the lens offer is very limited. If they don't do anything to correct this lack soon, very few will buy their cameras.
You hit the nail on the head, Edward.
Among the Alpha optics I'm only interested in the Zeiss primes. So far there are two to choose among. 85mm and 135mm. And they are so close in focal length that I would probably only buy one of them. The ZA lenses could make the strongest competition parameter for the Alpha system. But Sony doesn't seem to be really interested in that strategy.
For me it is a
huge mystery why Sony + Zeiss do not take advantage of the rare and strong combination of affordable high end full frame Sony cameras and high end quality optical Zeiss formulas with a full range of autofocus ZA lenses ? Who else in the market would be able to offer anything similar ?
Sony is a very strong sensor manufacturer, and Zeiss is an ultra high quality optics manufacturer. Together they have the potential to make a succesful Contax N system successor. Kyocera failed with the digital Contax DSLR, but Sony obviously knows how to do it right. I'm convinced they could gain a lot of market share if only they knew how to really join their forces. In fact it would leave them without equally strong competitors in the 35mm DSLR market.
Apparently Zeiss has less than no influence on the decisions in the Alpha project. Looks like the Alpha circus is exclusively a Sony circus. Thus the few ZA models, especially primes.
Since the demise of Leicas R system as a DSLR system, Zeiss has an outstanding opportunity. Zeiss just needs to find the right partner, in a real and
equal partnership. In fact I believe Sony is
potentially the right partner if only it were an
equal partnership. Obviously it is not.